Silphium wasiotense

Plants caulescent, 60-150 cm; fibrous rooted. Stems terete, hispid (never glaucous). Leaves: basal persistent, petiolate; cauline opposite, petiolate (proximal) or sessile (distal); blades cordate, deltate, lanceolate, or ovate, 1-28 × 1.5-20 cm, sometimes (proximal) lobed, bases auriculate, cordate, or truncate (proximal and distal), ultimate margins toothed or entire, apices acute to acuminate, faces hispid. Phyllaries 12-14 in 2-3 series, outer reflexed, apices acute to obtuse, abaxial faces hispid. Ray florets 6-14; corollas yellow. Disc florets 30-45; corollas yellow. Cypselae 4-8 × 4-6 mm; pappi 0.5-1.5 mm.

Flowering late summer-fall. Dry, open sites in mesic forests, along roadcuts; 300-600 m; Ky., Tenn.